Is Consumer Drug Advertising Dangerous?
The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest organization of physicians, agreed to study whether consumer drug advertising leads to unnecessary prescriptions, potentially harming patients and driving up health costs. Many critics say advertising fueled the widespread use of cox-2 painkillers, recently linked to serious cardiovascular problems. Vioxx, the cox-2 drug that Merck withdrew from the market last September, was widely advertised to consumers. Studies later indicated that, for many patients, it was no more effective than other, safer pain killers. advertisement Several psychiatrists’ groups with representatives at theAMA meeting raised the idea of a ban on advertising of new drugs for at least a few months after they go on sale. Imposing a window of time between a new drug’s release and its first advertising to consumers would allow doctors to evaluate medications before patients asked for them. If a drug caused serious side effects, doctors might spot them before the
